RALEIGH - The Democratic presidential primary is such a big attraction that even some Republicans asked for Democratic ballots today.

They were out of luck, however.

State law does not allow crossover voting. People who are registered with a party may vote only in that party's primary, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the state Board of Elections.

Only unaffiliated voters -- who have not registered as members of either party -- are allowed to choose whether to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary.

Bartlett said has heard about a dozen complaints, all in Wake County, from Republicans wanting to vote Democratic, though he suspects the situation is coming up in other places as well.

Earlier this year, conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh urged Republicans in states that allow crossover voting to cast ballots for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Limbaugh said he wanted to keep the Democrats fighting among themselves.

But Bartlett said the GOP requests to vote Democratic in North Carolina were not so nefarious.

"They see an active presidential election, and they want to be a part of it," he said.

Election officials are allowing Republicans who insist on Democratic ballots to cast provisional ballots. Their primary votes will count only if research shows that they actually are registered Democratic or are unaffiliated.

Their votes in nonpartisan judicial races, however, will be counted, Bartlett said.

At Raleigh's Falls River precinct, voter Diane Earp said she was frustrated to learn that the state does not allow crossover voting in the primary.

"I am so disgusted with my Republican Party of the last eight years that I want to change my position," she said. But regardless of whether voters are registered Democratic or Republican, she said, they shouldn't be "pigeonholed" and required to vote in the primary of their registered party.

The nonpartisan group Democracy North Carolina, which has set up a hotline for voters, has not received complaints from Republicans who wanted Democratic ballots, said communications director Katy Munger.

There have been reports of some out-of-date elections records indicating voters belong to one party when they actually are unaffiliated or registered with the other party, Munger said.

In such cases, voters are allowed to cast provisional ballots to give elections officials time to verify their registration.